AI + Commencement Speech = Loud Boos | Check-In 31

ChatGPT for Every Student - Now What? | Check-In 35

In this ChatEDU Check-In: How to fight brain rot at school?, Matt explores Estonia's nationwide launch of a customized, Socratic version of ChatGPT for 20,000 high school students. Despite wide access, early data shows that only 35 percent of eligible students consistently use the system, which is designed to guide learning rather than provide direct answers. Key Takeaways: Estonia's school-sanctioned chatbot uses a restrictive Socratic framework, but only about a third of students use it regularly. Students are actively developing workarounds, using repetitive prompting or switching to unfiltered commercial AI tools to avoid the frustrating conversational guardrails of the school system. A vocal minority of students are staging a boycott of the technology due to environmental concerns over data centers and geopolitical skepticism regarding the dominance of American tech firms. Matt’s Two Cents: This story is less about the technology itself and more about enterprise organizational development and how to deploy tech at scale. For top-down, nationwide educational technology implementations to succeed, schools must move away from rigid, forced rollouts and instead allow administrators, teachers, and students to collaborate on how to best leverage the tool. Article: How to Fight AI Brain Rot at School? For One Country, It’s With Free ChatGPT https://bit.ly/4fsflqv

AI on the Sidelines, Near Real-Time Coaching for Every Educator | Ep. 113

In this episode of ChatEDU AI on the Sidelines, Near Real-Time Coaching for Every Educator, open with the "Sad Wives of AI," a Wired piece on the marital strain and household gender gaps emerging as Bay Area tech husbands pour themselves into the AI wave. The Rundown Google has introduced automatic Google Drive syncing for NotebookLM, eliminating the need to manually update uploaded Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Upgrading to Gemini 1.5 Pro transformed NotebookLM's image upload capabilities into full multimodal visual understanding, opening up new use cases for students and teachers using screenshots and real world photos. A roundup of recent AI failures: a $100 million Pizza Hut franchisee lawsuit against Dragon Tail AI, Starbucks scrapping a faulty AI inventory tool, a study finding 60%+ of AI search responses inaccurate, and fake journals publishing AI papers. A Wall Street Journal report highlights how persistent memory features in major chatbots can backfire by latching onto stale, outdated, or sensitive personal data and skewing future advice. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten introduced a 10 plan calling for a complete ban on screens for preschool through second grade and a prohibition on student facing AI in all elementary schools. The School Superintendents Association is pairing 50 superintendents with 100 students to collaborate with MIT experts and draft a student led national AI policy for public schools. Students from New Haven's Engineering and Science University Magnet School developed a functioning visual prosthesis utilizing advanced vision language models for real time hazard detection for the visually impaired. The Beneath the Surface Matt and Liz explore Urban Assembly's Project CAFE, which delivers near-real-time coaching to every educator. CEO David Adams joins to discuss using AI-driven frameworks to improve teacher development, student engagement, and AI integration in K-12 classrooms. https://www.urbanassembly.org/ [https://www.urbanassembly.org/] https://www.urbanassembly.org/what-we-do/project-cafe [https://www.urbanassembly.org/what-we-do/project-cafe] The Bright Byte The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Biohub is an open-source world model of protein biology that predicts complex protein shapes in seconds and designs disease-targeting proteins in days. Being fully open source, it lets researchers worldwide download the data and accelerate breakthroughs on their own. Announcements Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77 [https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77] Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a [https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a] Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ [http://www.skills21.org/ai/learnai]  Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠ [https://www.skills21.org/social-balance]⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.skills21.org/social-balance%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0] Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ [http://skills21.org/ai/screenshift]  Links Meet the Sad Wives of AI https://tinyurl.com/mr4xf8ze [https://tinyurl.com/mr4xf8ze] Automatic Drive syncing in NotebookLM https://tinyurl.com/38kfana4 [https://tinyurl.com/38kfana4] Unlocking NotebookLM's best feature https://tinyurl.com/3ppt3ccz [https://tinyurl.com/3ppt3ccz] Pizza Hut franchisee says AI caused $100M in damages https://tinyurl.com/5ypp52ua [https://tinyurl.com/5ypp52ua] Exclusive: Starbucks scraps AI inventory tool across North America https://tinyurl.com/5a68wphd [https://tinyurl.com/5a68wphd] AI Just Isn’t Right https://tinyurl.com/33ve2p6u [https://tinyurl.com/33ve2p6u] Fake journals publish AI papers under professors' names https://tinyurl.com/3tbf5rpb [https://tinyurl.com/3tbf5rpb] Your Chatbot's Long Memory Isn't Always a Good Thing https://tinyurl.com/4dzpb77n [https://tinyurl.com/4dzpb77n] AFT president urges screen and AI bans for young students https://tinyurl.com/tu56kxc9 [https://tinyurl.com/tu56kxc9] Let Digital-Native Students Lead the AI Revolution in Education https://tinyurl.com/y589exk8 [https://tinyurl.com/y589exk8] New Haven Magnet School Is Only High School Team at Yale Innovation Summit https://tinyurl.com/mr352pte [https://tinyurl.com/mr352pte] A World Model of Protein Biology https://tinyurl.com/5ca6upk2 [https://tinyurl.com/5ca6upk2]

Catch Up Crisis | Check-In 34

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Catch Up Crisis, Liz explores how artificial intelligence can help address the widespread failure of American schools to effectively help struggling students catch up. Grade inflation and the removal of standardized testing requirements are masking major learning gaps, leaving many students unprepared for higher education despite having high grade-point average. Key Takeaways: A significant disconnect exists between high student grades and actual academic proficiency, creating a deceptive reality for parents and students. Traditional school systems are largely failing to move struggling students toward academic recovery due to the overwhelming demands placed on teachers. AI tools can analyze student work in real time to identify specific learning misconceptions, serving as a scalable playbook for targeted teacher interventions. Liz’s Two Cents: School leaders must confront the uncomfortable reality that grade inflation is masking critical student deficiencies. To prevent students from falling permanently behind, districts should strategically leverage AI to surface real-time diagnostic insights, allowing teachers to maximize their limited intervention time by targeting exact learning gaps rather than relearning mastered content. Article: America’s Schools Are Terrible at Catching Kids Up. How AI Can Help https://bit.ly/4u8cuGQ

AI Labs Hiring Philosophers | Check-In 33

In this ChatEDU Check-In: AI Labs Hiring Philosophers, Liz explores why leading artificial intelligence labs like Google DeepMind and Anthropic have begun hiring in-house philosophers. This shift turns abstract questions about the nature of intelligence into practical guidelines for model behavior. Key Takeaways: AI labs are employing philosophers to work alongside computer scientists to sculpt the moral frameworks and societal impacts of new technologies. These professionals focus on technical value alignment and drafting "constitutions" to guide model interactions in sensitive scenarios, such as managing users in distress. Academic critics worry these corporate roles may limit critical questioning and could be used for "ethics washing" to signal public safety while prioritizing shareholders. Liz’s Two Cents: The influx of philosophers into AI development raises critical questions about whose ethical frameworks are being prioritized and whether these roles are genuinely impactful or merely a public relations strategy. For school districts, this underscores the importance of teaching students to critically evaluate the underlying values and potential biases embedded within the AI tools they use daily. Article: To Land a Job in AI, Try Reading Kant https://bit.ly/4aogUCm

An Earful of Ivy: AI and the Battle for Higher Ed Integrity | Ep. 112

In this episode of ChatEDU An Earful of Ivy: AI and the Battle for Higher Ed Integrity, Matt and Liz open with an internet prank: an anonymous artist posted a real Monet, claimed it was AI generated, and watched critics bash the masterpiece as AI slop. The hosts then pivot to education, technology, and policy. The Rundown John R. Soash's three configurations for restricting student access to Gemini AI and Google Lens. Dan Fitzpatrick on Google's pivot from passive chatbots to proactive AI agents. Regional literary winners face scrutiny after their entries were flagged as AI-generated. The federal law requiring platforms to remove nonconsensual student deepfakes within 48 hours, effective May 2026. OpenAI and Google DeepMind use AI reasoning models to autonomously solve longstanding math problems. Dr. Ethan Mollick compares the water and energy costs of computing breakthroughs to everyday resources like almonds and lawns. Academics debate whether AI traffic light systems and the AI Assessment Scale are an enforcement illusion or a genuinely useful tool. A 2026 pilot program delivers cloud workstations and premium tech subscriptions to public libraries in Utah and New Jersey. Beneath the Surface Matt and Liz examine how grade inflation and AI cheating fears are driving policy shifts at elite universities: device bans at Yale, a 20% A-grade cap at Harvard, an AI ban at UC Berkeley Law, and the end of Princeton's 133-year-old honor code. As a counterpoint, they feature CU Boulder physicists advocating collaborative, department-level experimentation that treats students as partners rather than imposing top-down bans. The Bright Byte Finland's Kemira and UK-based Cusp AI used generative AI to design over 5,000 new material structures to strip PFAS 'forever chemicals' from municipal drinking water. Announcements Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77 [https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77] Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a [https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a] Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ [http://www.skills21.org/ai/learnai]  Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠ [https://www.skills21.org/social-balance]⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.skills21.org/social-balance%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0] Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ [http://skills21.org/ai/screenshift]  Sponsors Nectir. Welcome to the Classroom of the Future. https://www.nectir.io/ [https://www.nectir.io/] Links Prankster Passes Off Real Monet Painting as AI-Generated, Chaos Ensues https://tinyurl.com/mrab9ne3 [https://tinyurl.com/mrab9ne3] Blocking Google’s “AI Mode” (IT admin guide) https://tinyurl.com/4px27bm9 [https://tinyurl.com/4px27bm9] Google I/O 2026's Impact on Education https://tinyurl.com/2vs3zfzs [https://tinyurl.com/2vs3zfzs] Literary Prizewinners Face AI Allegations https://tinyurl.com/sh3jry9y [https://tinyurl.com/sh3jry9y] What's Next for the First AI Deepfakes Law https://tinyurl.com/9v3rzutk [https://tinyurl.com/9v3rzutk] AI Solves an 80-Year-Old 'Erdős Problem https://tinyurl.com/ykks2mtj [https://tinyurl.com/ykks2mtj] AI-Driven Formal Proof Search in Mathematics https://tinyurl.com/3wuer99w [https://tinyurl.com/3wuer99w] Discursive vs. Structural Responses to AI in Education https://tinyurl.com/4d6n82yy [https://tinyurl.com/4d6n82yy] Labels, Scales, and What the AIAS Actually Claims to Do https://tinyurl.com/su4zr73u [https://tinyurl.com/su4zr73u] Building Public AI with Libraries https://tinyurl.com/4den8s4k [https://tinyurl.com/4den8s4k] Yale to Consider Changes to Mission, Admissions, Aid, and Grading https://tinyurl.com/46779xp5 [https://tinyurl.com/46779xp5] Yale Faculty Say 'Bravo' to Harvard's Grade Cap https://tinyurl.com/mx6e594c [https://tinyurl.com/mx6e594c] UC Berkeley Law's AI Ban: Why Texas Students Should Pay Attention https://tinyurl.com/32xt4umr [https://tinyurl.com/32xt4umr] Princeton Changes Its 133-Year-Old Honor Code Over AI Cheating Fears https://tinyurl.com/28yjxfjn [https://tinyurl.com/28yjxfjn] CU Boulder: Higher Ed AI Change Models Already Out of Date https://tinyurl.com/37me2ssj [https://tinyurl.com/37me2ssj]